NFL Player News

The Saints started the season with a 2-0 record while outscoring opponents 91-29. Since then, the team has lost seven straight games while looking increasingly uncompetitive, but the final straw was Week 9’s 23-22 loss to the Panthers. Allen did his best to rebuild his reputation as the former Raiders’ coach who went 8-28 from 2012-2014, and at times, appeared to have the Saints moving in the right direction. Last year he delivered a 9-8 season after winning four of his team’s final five games, but this is clearly a roster that’s trending toward a complete overhaul. The team is expected to name special teams coach Darren Rizzi, who interviewed for the Saints’ head coaching job in 2022, as its interim head coach. Allen’s tenure with the Saints went just over two seasons, and his final record with the team is a disappointing 18-25. It seems unlikely he would be a candidate for any head coaching jobs in the future after two failed stints.

The question is simply how big of a role there is behind Gibbs. Reynolds took 14 carries to Gibbs’ 26 in Week 8 of 2023 against the Raiders, and three carries to Gibbs’ 11 in Week 7 of 2023 against the Ravens. That was with a rookie Gibbs, though, and it’s possible the Lions are more interested in entrusting Gibbs with a large majority of the workload today. Ultimately we expect Reynolds and Vaki to command no more than a Cam Akers-ish closeout role with a snap here or there. It may not be enough for fantasy value in Week 16.

O’Connell didn’t practice all week and the team was still so desperate to get him active that they took him to the field for a pre-game workout on Monday. One week of exposure to in-game Desmond Ridder probably made Pierce pretty optimistic about O’Connell returning as soon as possible. We’d wait for positive practice reports before we started making O’Connell plans for superflex leagues, but it’s clear the Raiders want him back as soon as possible to finish out the season.

That makes twice in three days we have had to blurb a Jones saying that Micah Parsons was categorically unavailable. To which we say: Sure, Jan. The Cowboys by all means should hold on to Parsons, he’s a key piece of them pivoting back to a playoff team next offseason. But Jones has seem aghast with sticker shock on the prices that some of his best players have commanded as free agents, and Parsons may command the richest defensive contract of all-time heading into the fifth-year option of his rookie deal. He also may be coveted enough around the league to fetch more than just a single first-round pick. Since returning from a high-ankle sprain on November 10th, Parsons has 7.5 sacks in six games.

The Saints have continued to dance around the situation by calling Carr “week to week” but this is no minor injury and it would legitimately be surprising if Carr played again in the 2024 season. Nick Underhill reported that Spencer Rattler will get another start this week after coming off the bench and handily outperforming (a low bar) Jake Haener in Week 15.

Reinforcements are coming in Detroit after a rash of defensive injuries. Pittman has just two starts since signing with the Lions as a UDFA in 2019. He had a total of 152 defensive snaps for the Lions from 2019-2023. Now he’ll return as a depth piece and likely special teamer.

Eric Wilson was relied on heavily as Walker left last weekend’s game with the Seahawks with the ankle injury after only 22 snaps. It sure sounds like Wilson will be in there again on Sunday. Walker has been a solid run defender this year though his 48.8 PFF coverage grade creates some dissonance in calling him a true stalwart at linebacker for the Packers.

He stopped short of saying that Brown “would” play. There’s probably not much upside to Brown playing if Carson Wentz is going to be at quarterback, outside of perhaps knocking off some rust. If Brown does play in Week 16, he will likely be brought along slowly and thus be nothing more than a touchdown-or-bust fantasy start for deeper leagues to consider.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski declined to name a Week 16 starter on Monday. It appears he’ll bench Jameis Winston after his disastrous Week 15 outing against the Chiefs in which he threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. Thompson-Robinson under center for Cleveland is a major blow to everyone in the Browns offense. Jerry Jeudy goes from borderline WR1 status to WR4 and David Njoku, fighting through a hamstring injury, will be barely usable in 12-team formats. The Bengals defense is very much in play with the inaccurate DRT starting for the Browns.

Though Mahomes is “built differently,” per Rapoport, and won’t miss the usual 4-6 weeks it takes to recover from a high ankle sprain, his Week 16 status is in doubt. That would mean Carson Wentz would get the nod for KC against the Texans. It would be a marked downgrade for Travis Kelce, DeAndre Hopkins, and the rest of the Chiefs pass catchers. The team will do everything in its power to have Mahomes ready to go for the postseason.

Hockenson is Minnesota’s man-beater, and the Bears rarely bothered getting out of zone coverage tonight so he didn’t have much to work with. He did break up a near-interception by playing defensive back on a ball over the middle from Sam Darnold that was bearing in on Kevin Byard’s hands. He also converted a third-and-15 with a 16-yard catch and added a five-yard DPI. He’ll remain a functional low-end TE1 in Week 16 against the Seahawks.